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Friday, December 28, 2012

Dates Pickle | Eenthappazham Achar (Malabar Style)

Dates pickle / Eenthapazham achar is a speciality of Malabar and it best pairs with Thalassery biriyani.Thalassery biriyani is served with dates pickle unlike the raitha in other biriyani.This pickle has a sweet,tangy & spicy taste.Usually this pickle is blended in a smooth paste form but somehow to me it tastes similar to the Sweet tamarind chutney used in chats and so I avoided that.I have just added & cooked the dates in the pieces form.We love it this way and like it with biriyani.Do try this out if you love the sweet taste of dates in pickles !!!

Method
-Chop the dates in small pieces.
-Make a paste with chilly powder ,mustard seeds,cumin seeds & water in the blender.The mustard seeds & cumin seeds can just split up.
-Heat oil in a pan and when the oil is hot ,add the ginger shredded,garlic chopped, green chillies & curry leaves.Add the turmeric powder and asafoetida powder
-Add the chilly paste and vinegar.Bring to a boil.Add the chopped dates and cook for 5-7 minutes till the vinegar is absorbed and dates are softened and cooked.There will be some soft dates pieces left behind to add a nice chewy texture.
-Add the sugar & salt.Put off flame.

Servings ~ a small bowlNOTES
* Adding sugar adds to the sweeteness,omit if u don't like it very sweet.
* Usually this pickle is made by blending the dates but we prefer having some chunks in between,so haven't blended it.You can blend if u wish.
* Mustard seeds and cumin seeds need to be just crushed and not powdered.

hi, I tried this recipie.. IT looks the same, the only one change I did was I did not add much sugar, the idea was to get it spicy, however its tasting bitter, do you have any idea, where did it went wrong? or what mistake I have done.

@Jee Thanks for trying out the recipe..I think the mustard seeds might have got powdered than just crushed..that may have added bitterness,else it shouldn't happen..I think you can leave the pickle for a few days and check again,may be the sweetness of dates may get blended well and may reduce the bitter taste.Hope that helps !

@Mayadip Hi Mayadip,I personally haven't tried preserving any pickle more than a month as I make smaller batches and gets over soon at home.And this pickle stays good for a month at room temperature.Always try to use dry clean spoons(free of moisture)which will help increasing the shelf life of any pickle.If you plan to make large batches,then store small batch outside at room temp in air tight containers and refrigerate the rest.Refrigeration will preserve this pickle over months.Hope that works fine.

I'm really sorry, I took a lot to for effort to make this, I'm a novice cook... And it doesn't taste good at all.. I'm so disappointed.. the cumin and mustard taste very raw... Even though I dry roasted before grinding..

@Cheri I had typed mustard seeds as 1/4 cup by mistake which is 1/4 tsp..Am very sorry,Cheri..cumin was just 1/4 tsp as mentioned, which I think you got it wrong thinking its 1/4 cup again..so 1/4tsp of cumin never tastes raw I feel..Thanks for getting back, so that I could correct the post for future viewers !

Akhil: you can experiment with honey but I haven't tried that way so can't comment much on using honey. Also, if you are using honey then use it once the pickle is cool. Honey loses its natural properties once its boiled.